Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Not to 'drill' it in to you, but...

A year ago I wrote about Part 1 of a study on “educational” software - Headlines that won’t help. The preliminary results of the study found that various software test prep packages had little impact on student test scores. Now the second half of the study is out. Guess what. The software still doesn’t work.

All of these software packages promise to improve student scores in reading and math. But as endless research has proven, drilling kids for tests doesn’t result in significant test score improvement, and has negative long-term results in what students actually retain. It doesn’t matter if we drill more efficiently with expensive software. Doing things that don’t work DOESN’T WORK. How much simpler can this be? As I said last year, the headlines SHOULD read, “Bad Educational Practice Proved Ineffective, Again!”

All of the studied software test prep programs are far removed from creative software applications that allow students to use modern technology to express themselves in innovative, personal ways.

My emphasis there.

You know, there are some people in this world who think that if it happens on a computer, it must be 'technology'.

That's kinda like saying, "If it's put together with a hammer, it's architecture!"

Unaware-Computer-Courseware-Drill-Stuff-Users, please read: By and large, courseware stinks. At best it's usually the computer screen version of a textbook. When you hear folks talking about Web 2.0 and creative apps and social networking... they aren't talking about courseware.

Let me give you an analogy to explain what courseware is like. It's sort of like if you were prepping the grill to barbecue and asked for help lighting the coals. On the table next to the grill are the instructions on how to use the grill right next to a book of matches and a container of lighter fluid. And I give you the instruction book.

So, to get up-to-speed on what's going on in educational technology, I strongly suggest you give the oversized boxes your courseware came in to the kids in the art deparment -- they probably could use the extra materials. Then get yourself into the Web 2.0 discussion. Don't hesitate, the future awaits!

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Teach Paperless: Now!

TeachPaperless began in February 2009 as a blog detailing the experiences of one teacher in a paperless classroom. It has grown to be something much more than that. In January 2011, TeachPaperless became a collaboratively written blog dedicated to conversation and commentary about the intertwined worlds of digital technology, new media, and education.

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TeachPaperless was noted as a Twitterer worth ReTweeting by Education Week's Digital Education blog. Also in Ed Week: "Shelly Blake-Plock has had some really intriguing posts already this year and I'm already behind. Considering he published 639 entries on his TeachPaperless blog in 2009 it's going to be hard to keep up, but well worth the try."

“When I originally contacted Shelley last week to inquire as to whether or not he would be willing to talk to my staff, he jumped right in, and he didn’t disappoint. What impressed me most about him as I listened to him describe his practice was his clear vision of what it meant for his students to function in a classroom that he designed: it was about them learning. He truly designed the environment with their learning–their unbridled learning–in mind. His decision was not a secretarial one, but rather came from a desire to push students to take control of information gathering, processing, and creating.” – Chalkdust 101

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"The invention of the computer promised to lead us to a paperless society but has failed to deliver on that promise... until now, perhaps?" TeachPaperless was featured by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning as an Everyday Innovation

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